Scroll down to review The Company Dime‘s coverage of travel distribution.
The travel industry thrives on a complex network of channels connecting travelers with desired experiences. The Company Dime‘s travel distribution category delves into this intricate system, offering subscribers invaluable knowledge and insights. Our in-depth articles explore the various channels that constitute corporate travel distribution, both traditional and emerging.
Getting all the relevant, bookable inventory in front of business travelers is a never-ending challenge. Airlines, hotels and other suppliers constantly tinker with their products and pricing, and often favor direct distribution over third-party channels. That creates complexity in business travel technology.
Readers can expect thorough coverage of the relationships and dynamics between airlines, hotels, travel management companies, global distribution systems and other suppliers and intermediaries. We closely examine developments associated with the New Distribution Capability (NDC), direct booking initiatives and the rise of new entrants looking to disrupt legacy models.
Subscribers benefit from our scrutiny of the often-opaque world of distribution costs and revenue streams, including incentive payments, agency commissions and booking fees. We shed light on these essential commercial arrangements.
We also track the technological forces reshaping distribution, from the positioning of online booking tools to the potential of emerging solutions like artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual payment. Readers stay informed on innovations that could unlock efficiencies and improve the traveler experience.
Our coverage clarifies major industry debates, such as the relative merits of GDS and NDC content, and our Op Eds deliver provocative thought leadership from all corners of the industry. Contributor insights on timely issues — like rethinking travel management company commercial models — make for essential reading.
With a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism, The Company Dime delivers must-have intelligence for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of travel distribution.
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You get what you pay for, and most travel industry business news is free. We sell insight. Our mission is quality journalism for those interested in business travel services, expense management practices and travel industry change. Our features, exclusives and analysis equip business travel professionals with vital info for top performance.
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Four in five business travelers “never” or “rarely” choose out-of-policy options, according to an April BCD Travel poll of 1,201 business travelers worldwide. Seventeen percent indicated they sometimes chose out-of-policy options, 3 percent said they “often” did and 1 percent picked “always.” An unrelated May-June survey by Deloitte of 1,070 U.S. corporate travelers whose companies…
[UPDATE, Sept. 25, 2024: Delta and Travelport signed a “multi-year” agreement “including NDC content.”] Delta Air Lines announced Tuesday that it was renewing multi-year, full content participation agreements with the three major global distribution system providers. During a web presentation, Delta leaders also offered some product updates and said they created a New Distribution Capability…
Atlanta — In addition to providing a venue for emotional expression about airline distribution changes, the Global Business Travel Association’s convention here last month offered a platform for blueprint-making. Voicing concern about industry pros who may think — at their peril — that American Airlines backing off means they can, too, more than a dozen…
Atlanta — With almost no exceptions, corporate travel managers do not have fond memories of their experiences with the New Distribution Capability. Amy Hunke, senior manager of travel and meetings at Ametek and president of GBTA Michigan, described her experience as “quite horrific.” Addressing buyers during a GBTA convention panel about NDC here last month,…
Global distribution system providers are in a “precarious” position thanks to changing economics and roles, according to former Sabre SVP and chief scientist Ben Vinod’s new book, “Mastering The Travel Intermediaries.” Vinod wrote that the adoption of New Distribution Capability means “disintermediation of the GDS is a foregone conclusion,” with the GDS share of the…
Atlanta — Facebook parent Meta began a pilot with Spotnana this spring in partnership with its incumbent travel management company, CWT. With “many thousands” of travelers in the pilot “around the globe,” the $135 billion social media firm expects a majority of bookings to use the New Distribution Capability by the end of next year….
The New Distribution Capability is not designed to generate less revenue for airlines. Some argue it’s about increasing yields through upselling and neutered comparison shopping. Many corporate travel buyers’ most notable experiences with NDC are related to surcharges or inaccessible fares. Airlines are using it to reduce distribution costs. One of the purported win-wins is…
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